Long Zone 2 Cardio:
Why bother?
Improved heart health. Aerobic capacity. Lower blood pressure. Reduced chance of cancer. Reduced chance of stroke, & cardiovascular 'events'. Improved vascularisation of muscle. Reduced chances of falling. Reduced asthma symptoms. Reduced chronic pain. Improved sleep. Stronger immune system. Regulated blood sugar and weight. More robust brain tissue. Improved mood.
We are aiming for around 3 hours of Z2 cardio a week. You can get this in one hit if you build up to that volume. For a lot of people this makes sense in terms of time management and getting all the sessions in each week.
5 mins >3 hours, pick your modality and duration
If you have one, use a heart rate monitor (HRM). Without one, you will probably work too hard.
Aim to increase volume by 10% per week, but no more.
Keep the intensity in zone 2.
Find zone 2 by using this formula:
(220- your age) x 0.6 for the bottom of zone 2
(220- your age) x 0.7 for the top of zone 2
The other way is to aim to hang out around or below 180bpm – your age.
If you need a recovery day, drop the intensity to zone 1, same rules on volume. Start with something manageable and add around 10% each time you repeat the workout.
If doing a long zone 2 effort is too monotonous do rounds of 10 minutes of cardio, 300m heavy Farmer’s walk. You are welcome to change the cardio modality each round to spice things up.
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